Music
News
Rina Sawayama announces UK headline dates
Find out more about the rising star's new album, single and live dates.
Rina Sawayama continues her push for pop greatness by announcing release details for her debut album SAWAYAMA, and announcing a short run of headline dates for May 2020.
The news comes as Rina drops her latest single, Comme Des Garcons (Like The Boys, her follow-up to the anthemic STFU!.
Rina Sawayama’s UK tour dates
14 May 2020 – King Tuts, Glasgow
15 May 2020 – Gorilla, Manchester
16 May 2020 – O2 Institute3, Birmingham
21 May 2020 – Electric Brixton, London
Born in Japan in 1990, Rina grew up in the UK. She attended the University of Cambridge, where she was in a band called Lazy Lion alongside Theo Ellis from Wolf Alice. Shortly after graduating with a degree in politics, she launched her solo music career.
Inspired over the years by J-pop artists as well as Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears and Beyoncé, Rina debuted her first single, Sleeping in Waking, in 2013. She followed that up in 2016 with two more well-received singles, Where U Are and This Time Next Year. These early songs began to shape her retro-futuristic pop sound which melds a catchy, surface-level effervescence with deeper cultural-driven observations.
She released her mini-album RINA in 2017, following it up with Cherry a year later. Last year, Rina unveiled STFU!, relaunching her climb to the top and signing to Dirty Hit, home of The 1975, The Japanese House, beabadoobee and more.
Rina will be releasing SAWAYAMA on 17 April 2020 through the label.
With her stunning style and luminous hair, Rina has also launched a successful modelling career. In 2016 she appeared in a searing series of John Yuyi-shot portraits called Asian Beauty, and you may have seen her in campaigns for Versus Versace. Plus, earlier this year when Nicopanda’s fashion maverick Nicola Formichetti teamed up with M·A·C to create a makeup line, Rina not only appeared in the ads showing off the brand’s playful colour palettes, but she also wrote and performed the original electro-pop track Play on Me for it.
Tickets for Rina Sawayama’s UK dates will be available from 10:00 on Friday 24 January 2020 through Ticketmaster.co.uk.
